PART V.
URUGUAY
[Illustration]
THE LONE TRAIL.
And sometimes it leads to the desert and the tongue swells
out of the mouth,
And you stagger blind to the mirage, to die in the mocking
drouth.
And sometimes it leads to the mountain, to the light of the
lone camp-fire,
And you gnaw your belt in the anguish of the hunger-goaded
desire.
- Robert W. Service.
The Republic of Uruguay has 72,210 square miles of territory, and is
the smallest of the ten countries of South America. Its population is
only 1,103,000, but the Liebig Company, "which manufactures beef tea
for the world, owns nearly a million acres of land in Uruguay. On its
enormous ranches over 6,000,000 head of cattle have passed through
its hands in the fifty years of its existence." [Footnote: Clark.
"Continent of Opportunity."]
The republic seems well governed, but, as in all Spanish-American
countries, the ideas of right and wrong are strange. While taking
part in a religious procession, President Borda was assassinated in
1897. A man was seen to deliberately walk up and shoot him. The Chief
Executive fell mortally wounded. This cool murderer was condemned to
two years' imprisonment for insulting the President.
In 1900, President Arredondo was assassinated, but the murderer was
acquitted on the ground that "he was interpreting the feelings of the
people."
Uruguay is a progressive republic, with more than a thousand miles of
railway. On these lines the coaches are very palatial. The larger
part of the coach, made to seat fifty-two passengers, is for smokers,
the smaller compartment, accommodating sixteen, is for non-smokers,
thus reversing our own practice. Outside the harbor of the capital a
great sea-wall is being erected, at tremendous cost, to facilitate
shipping, and Uruguay is certainly a country with a great future.
The capital city occupies a commanding position at the mouth of the
great estuary of the Rio de la Plata; its docks are large and modern,
and palatial steamers of the very finest types bring it in daily
communication with Buenos Ayres. The Legislative Palace is one of the
finest government buildings in the world. The great Solis Theatre,
where Patti and Bernhardt have both appeared, covers nearly two acres
of ground, seats three thousand people and cost three million dollars
to build. The sanitary conditions and water supply are so perfect
that fewer people die in this city, in proportion to its size, than
in any other large city of the world.
The Parliament of Uruguay has recently voted that all privileges
hitherto granted to particular religious bodies shall be abrogated,
that the army shall not take part in religious ceremonies, that army
chaplains shall be dismissed, that the national flag shall not be
lowered before any priest or religious symbol. So another state cuts
loose from Rome!
The climate of the country is such that grapes, apricots, peaches,
and many other fruits grow to perfection. Its currency is on a more
stable basis than that of any other Spanish republic, and its dollar
is actually worth 102 cents. The immigrants pouring into Uruguay have
run up to over 20,000 a year; the population has increased more than
100 per cent in 12 years; so we shall hear from Uruguay in coming
years more than we have done in the past.
CHAPTER XIII.
SKETCHES OF A HORSEBACK RIDE THROUGH THE REPUBLIC.
I CROSS THE SILVER RIVER.
I left Buenos Ayres for Uruguay in an Italian polacca. We weighed
anchor one Sunday afternoon, and as the breeze was favorable, the
white sails, held up by strong ropes of rawhide, soon wafted us away
from the land. We sailed through a fleet of ships from all parts of
the world, anchored in the stream, discharging and loading cargoes.
There, just arrived, was an Italian emigrant ship with a thousand
people on board, who had come to start life afresh. There was the
large British steamer, with her clattering windlass, hoisting on
board live bullocks from barges moored alongside. The animals are
raised up by means of a strong rope tied around their horns, and as
the ship rocks on the swell they dangle in mid-air. When a favorable
moment arrives they are quickly dropped on to the deck, completely
stupefied by their aerial flight.
As darkness fell, the wind dropped, and we lay rocking on the bosom
of the river, with only the twinkling lights of the Argentine coast
to remind us of the solid world. The shoreless river was, however,
populous with craft of all rigs, for this is the highway to the great
interior, and some of them were bound to Cuyaba, 2,600 miles in the
heart of the continent. During the night a ship on fire in the offing
lit up with great vividness the silent waste of waters, and as the
flames leaped up the rigging, the sight was very grand. Owing to
calms and light winds, our passage was a slow one, and I was not
sorry when at last I could say good-bye to the Italians and their
oily food. Three nights and two days is a long time to spend in
crossing a river.
MONTEVIDEO.
Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is "one of the handsomest cities
in all America, north or south." Its population is over 350,000. It
is one of the cleanest and best laid-out cities on the continent; it
has broad, airy streets and a general look of prosperity. What
impresses the newcomer most is the military display everywhere seen.
Sentry boxes, in front of which dark-skinned soldiers strut, seem to
be at almost every corner. Although Uruguay has a standing army of
under 3,500 men, yet gold-braided officers are to be met with on
every street.
